Previous question: Early drafters: Who slipped through
as bargains in your draft?

Even post-breakout
Esteban Loaiza, who else? I had a gut feeling on taking him,
but thought no one else had the same idea. I figured that
the non-White Sox fans I was drafting against didn't have
him in their plans. I usually try not to get caught up in
drafting players from Chicago so that I might jinx them. From
now on, I will never second-guess myself. Ken Ejka Jr., Chicago

Giambi and Burrell
This was my first year in an auction league, after playing
for 14 years in draft leagues. My strategy was to pay up to
full price for the superstars, then look for bargains. Jason
Giambi was brought up in the first 15 players, the bidding
started to peter out in the late teens, so while I hadn't
expected to have a shot at him, I jumped in and got him for
$22.
I also figured my strategy would have me filling out my roster
at the end of the draft, which ended up being true. There
were two decent outfielders left (Mike Cameron and Pat Burrell)
with me and one other owner needing to fill offensive slots,
so I pushed the bidding on Cameron to $8, and let the other
guy have him for $9. That left me with Burrell for $1. I think
it was more oversight on everyone else's part, but it was
an awesome finish to my offense and potentially a nice keeper
for next year.Jim Larson, Charlotte

A final look at the latest news of fantasy importance as teams break camp:

Alex Escobar had 24 homers at Triple-A in 2003, plus five with Cleveland.

By Tony Dejak, AP

AMERICAN LEAGUE

CHICAGO: Billy Koch survived the spring, not unscathed, but still with the closer job. It probably won't last, and you can probably buy both Damaso Marte and Cliff Politte for a combined and well-spent $10. Is Neal Cotts worth a $1 flier? Granted, it's a tiny sample size, but two walks in 11 spring innings tells me he's worth a buck.

CLEVELAND: Milton Bradley has been traded, and will play a lot in Los Angeles. The beneficiaries in Cleveland are Coco Crisp and Alex Escobar — Escobar should win out and could have a monster fantasy season.

DETROIT: Ugueth Urbina will miss at least seven games while he tunes up in Lakeland. The good news is that seven Tigers games roughly equal one save opportunity.

KANSAS CITY: Tony Pena says he will use a closer committee to fill in for Mike MacDougal, but don't be surprised if Curtis Leskanic is a one-man committee all season.

NEW YORK: Jason Giambi's knee was balking in Japan. Tony Clark is too risky, Travis Lee is too iffy. The only thing we do know is that Kenny Lofton will be adversely affected, with Bernie Williams nudged from DH to center field.

OAKLAND: Arthur Rhodes was knocked around quite a bit in the spring, meaning Moneyball star Chad Bradford is looking better and better for cheap saves. Britt Reames, although he was sent to the minors and is nursing an injury in his side, would still make a good reserve stash.

SEATTLE: Just to be safe — and we know this will hurt fantasy owners who love garage bands more than it will hurt Scott Spiezio — cross Spiezio off your draft list, or at least send him plummeting down the list. Spiezio, the lead singer of Sandfrog, won't be doing any on-stage acrobatics for a while with his back spasms. He began the year on the disabled list.

And the Mariners' trade of two decent pitching prospects for utilityman Jolbert Cabrera — when they already have third base possibilities Justin Leone and Greg Dobbs in the minors — means they have definite concerns about Spiezio's back.

Willie Bloomquist should get some early cheap steals, but with Cabrera playing there, too, the fantasy value should be negligible.

TEXAS: In a shocking move, Brian Jordan, Jeff Zimmerman and Rusty Greer were placed on the DL.

TORONTO: Aquilino Lopez couldn't close the spring with a single-digit ERA, making Justin Speier (2.70, ERA 10 hits allowed, eight strikeouts and one walk in 10 innings) and Kerry Ligtenberg (2.45 ERA, nine hits allowed, 14 strikeouts and one walk in 11 innings) a good gamble on draft day.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ARIZONA: Chad Tracy was sent down and could see some right field in Triple-A, which would dramatically reduce Danny Bautista's value.

ATLANTA: J.D. Drew hit .364 with five home runs and, more importantly, had no pain this spring.

CHICAGO: How can Mark Prior be hurt? He was restoring our faith in starting pitchers — a big, young guy with a perfect delivery. How can this happen? Oh, that's right, he's pitching for the Cubs. Prior is out until May, and Cubs fans already have thrown in the towel. Spring home run leader Scott McClain took the Tuffy route back to Seibu instead of Iowa.

CINCINNATI: Closer Danny Graves pitched well this spring, but Ryan Wagner's stats — 0.61 ERA, five hits allowed, four walks and 14 strikeouts in 14&frac_two_thirds; IP — will hasten his ascent into that role.

COLORADO: Preston Wilson looks just about ready after homering three times in three games last week.

LOS ANGELES: Antonio Perez, who went from Seattle to Tampa Bay in the Lou Piniella deal and to the Dodgers for Jason Romano, could be worth a stash — he has nice roto tools.

MONTREAL: Nick Johnson is now officially injury-prone after a back problem landed him on the DL. Beneficiaries are Terrmel Sledge and Peter Bergeron, and possibly Juan Rivera, with Brad Wilkerson now having to move to first base, at least until Johnson returns.

PITTSBURGH: Jose Mesa is throwing in the mid-90s and has been named the closer. Hey, stranger things have reportedly happened.

ST. LOUIS: Despite his run-ins with managers and his Skates-like defense, Roger Cedeno cannot be ignored in fantasy baseball. He is only 29 and he did steal 55 bases in 131 games in 2001 for Detroit. And when you're the fourth outfielder behind Jim Edmonds, Ray Lankford and Reggie Sanders, well, you can probably count on 400 at-bats. Also, if you're looking to fill out your staff with some cheap starters, you could do a lot worse than Chris Carpenter.

SAN DIEGO: An ex-Card, Kerry Robinson could be a nice $1 pickup. The Padres are saying Jay Payton is ready, but he's a misstep away from an extended stay on the DL with that hamstring. Robinson would slide into center field and could pile up steals. He had only six last season, but general manager Kevin Towers said Robinson is right up there with Juan Pierre and Ichiro in speed. Don't shy away from Phil Nevin, though — he should be fine, although the Padres really should bring in Jeremy Giambi to tutor Nevin on the art of staying upright.

SAN FRANCISCO: Matt Herges is the closer. Will he be this year's Todd Worrell? There's no reason for optimism with Robb Nen, but Herges has had bouts with inconsistency, and with an able Felix Rodriguez in the bullpen, he has to be considered a bit risky. If you can get both cheap, jump all over that.

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John Hunt is writes about fantasy baseball for USA TODAY Sports Weekly. You can e-mail him at jhunt@usatoday.com